Means for stopping railway-trains at danger-signals



E. C. ALLEN. 1 7 MEANS FOR STOPPING RAILWAY mms AT DANGER SIGNALS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-15, 1920- V 1,386,302, Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

3 EETS-SHEET l.

E. c. ALLEN. MEANS FOR STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS AT DANGER SIGNALS. APPLICATION FILED-SEPT- I5, I920. 1,386,3020 Aug- 2,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. c. ALLEN. MEANS FOR STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS AT DANGER SIGNALS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-15. I920- I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD c. ALLEN, on NEW "HAVEN; CONNECTICUT.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD C. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New l-laven in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Means for Stopping RailwayTrains at Danger-Signals; and I do hereby declare the following, when takenin connection with the accompanying drawings and the characters of reference marked thereon, to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this application, and represent, i'n V I Figure l, a side view partly in section and partly diagrammatic,illustrating the application of-my invention to a locomotive. Fig. 2, a top or plan viewof the valve actuating-mechanism.

Fig. 3, aperspective view of the detached. V

Figs, a perspective view of one form of abutment and tripper adapted to be used in connection with my device.

Fig. 5, an end View of a sliding abutment in connection with a common form ofqrailway signals.

Fig. 6, a plan view of the same..- Fig. 7, a plan view of the throttle lever release mechanism on an enlarged scale.

- This invention relates to an improvement cam block 'in means for stopping railway trains at danger signals and particularly to that class which includes mechanism operated by an abutment at one side of the tracks and which act to closethe throttle lever in the engine and open the train line to the air-brakes, the object of the invention being a simple arrangement of parts which will positively act in case the train passes a stop signal and which will act at desired points if the enhereinafter appear. This lever is connected with a cam block- 13 supported in a suitable housing upon a stud 1 1, this cam havin a 1 flat face 15 normally bearing against a dlsk Specification of Letters Patent.

JYIEANS FOR STOPPING RAILWAY-TRAINS AT DANGER-SIGNALS.

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

Application filed September 15, 1920. Serial No. 410,428.

controlling the main train line 48 to an exhaust pipe 22 leading to a cylinder 23 having a piston 24 the stem 25 of which extends into engagement with a tripping dog 26 connected with the throttle lever 27 so as to trip the latch 28 thereof through the release handle 55 and link 56 (see-Fig.7). The-stem .19 is formed with a notch 29 to receive a spring pin 30by which the valve 20 is locked in its open position, the valve being held in its closed position by springs 31 and 32. The lever 10 extends into a housing 33 through a slot 34'slightly longer than the width of the lever sothat the lever may have a slight movement independent of the housing, to prevent the operation of cam block13 on backward movement of the engine, the lever being held against one end of the slot by a -spring35. For operating the lever 10, I employ an abutment 36 and a tripper 37 the distance between thetwo being regulated so that the abutment will be engaged by the lever 10 which will turn the lever so that the arm 12 will en age with the tripper to turn the cam bloc 13 sufliciently to operate the valve 20. An actuator as shown in Fig. 1 may be placed in suitable relation to dangerous curves or cross-overs, the height of the abutment and the'distance of the tripper being determined by the speed at which the engine should move at'such points so that if traveling at a pre-determined speed or slower the arm 11 will not be moved sufiicientlyto throw the arm 12 into engagement with the tripper 37 or thedistance between the abutment and tripper will be such that the lever will have .time to recover its normal position before t reaches the trlpper.

On the other hand, if the engine is traveling at a speed higher than with safety the arm 12 after being depressed by the engagement of the arm 11 with the abutment 36will engage with the tripper 37 and so turn the cam block 13 to operate the valve 20, thus allowing pres sure of the main train line to enter the cylinder 23 and automatically throw the throttle lever and at the same time open the train line of the air-brakes and when the valve 20 is open, the spring-pin 30 engages the notch 29 and holds it in its open position until it has been manually released. It will be understood that the cylinder 23 will be provided with an exhaust 38, so that after the valve 24 in the cylinder has moved forward the operative fluid may escape, and

it mayherebestatedthat the connections through the exhaust pipe 22 maybe com.-

' paratively. loose, or cylinder 23 providedwith a leakage groove so that, any pressure therein will escape. If thettrainsare controlled by the usual block signals, I preferably employ an abutment39'having sections Y40 and 41 of different'heights. These-abutments will be mounted on a slide 42 con trolled by a crank' lever 43' connected with a regular signal system including a semaphore arm-44' When the arm is down or the green light showing theslide 42 is retired into asu'itablehousing 45, but if partly raisedor showing an orange light the section 40' of the abutment'will be projected out wardly into the path of the arm ll'so as to be engagedthereby, "and if the engine is traveling at a safe speed the arm 11 will strike the abutment and at once recover before the arm12' can engage with'the tripper 37 and so that the arm 12 will clear the tripper 37, but if the 'engineris traveling at a speed greaterthan safety thearm 12'will engage the tripper 37 andoperate'the air-brakes.

' If the signalis set' for danger or showing a red light,-t-he section 41 of the abutment will stand'in the path ofthe 'arm' 11 and is so high that-the arm12-must necessarily 'elingback'wardand in this case the lever *10-will have a slight movement in the -housing which will permit the engine to pass the abutment without operating the valve 20.

The rearwardly'extending arm 49 has a fur ther' function'of' turning the lever 10-to an operative positionprovided the springs fail and so that the armll may-stand in proper n'ositionto'eiigage with the abutment 36 and .danger signals comprlslng a cam block havto accomplish this I mount a preliminary abutment 50 suitably in advance of the abutment 36' and with which the arm 49 will engage so as to turn the arm 11 into its operatin'gposition. To provide for cutting out the safety device from engines following the leader as with double headers, I arrange two valves 51 and 52 in the main train line pipe 48 between which the pipe 21 enters. Engines following the leader close both valves so thataction of the safety device will have no effect on the main train line the pressure beingma'intained by a head engine. In the head engine both valves will be open and should .an engineer attempt to make the safety 'deviceinoperative by closing the valve 51 or 52, he necessarily shuts off pressure in the maintrainline and as there is more or less leakage 1n that train 11118, which 1s ordinarily fully charged, this leakage will,

in a very short time cause the brakes to creep on and stop the train. The upper end'of the flat face 15"of the cam-block, when in its normal position, is cut away or'formed with a-bevel 53 as shown in Fig.

3 ofthe drawings so that in backing up the cam-block may have a certain amount of free movement before moving the disk 16 suiiiciently to open the train line.

By employing the cam block as shown and described, the lever'lO may make a complete revolution if forced to do so by the engagement of'the arm. 12 with the tripper 37 and hence there is no danger-ofthe parts being broken by the impact of the arms withthe abutment or tripper. The' action of the device is positive and the train'once'having been stopped can not proceed until the spring pin has been removed from the valvestem iand allow it to move to a closed position. The engineer cannot prevent the device from operating for the reason that if he should wedge his throttle valve lever, the escape of air from the pipe 22and its conriection with the cylinder 23 and the exhaust 38 in the cylinder will be suliicient to open the maintrain. line to the brakes so then t y 111 h b have without further illustratingthat it may be 1 applied to an electrically operated motor,

the means shown 'and described'foroperating the throttle valve being readily adapted to operate the controller lever on an electric motor.

Iclaim:'

'1; Means for stopping railway trains at danger signals including a cam block adapted to open the train line, a lever connected with said block and including an abutment arm and a tripper arm combined with an abutment and a tripper for actuating said arms. 1

2;: Means for stopping-railway trains at ing a. flat face, an actuatingstem adapted to be moved by said cam block, a valve havingavalve stemin line with said actuating stenusaid valve adapted to open the train line, a cylinder having a piston formed with an outwardly projecting stem and'adapted to trip the throttle lever when the said'valve is open, a lever connected ,with said cam block and formed with an abutment arm and a tripping arm and an abutment and a tripperfor' actuating said arms.

3. Means; f rst'OppingrailWay trains at danger signals includingthe air-brake system, a valve adapted to open said system,

a cam block adapted to'be turned to open. said valve, a lever connected with said block 7 saidlever'provided with an abutment arm and a trippingarm and a transversely movable abutment slide controlled by signal mechanism and provided with abutments of varying height adapted to be moved into the path of said abutment arm.

4. Means for stopping railway trains at danger signals including a cam block adapted. to open the train line, a stem between said block and valve formed with a notch, a spring-pin adapted to enter said notch when the stem is moved rearward and means connected with said block and adapted to be operated by an abutment for turning said cam block.

5. Means for stopping railway trains at danger signals including the air-brake system and controlling level, two manually operated valves arranged in -the main train line of the brake system, an auxiliary train line intersecting the. main train line between the said valves, and exhaust pipe, a valve between the said auxiliary train line and exhaust pipe, means operated by the exhaust for moving said controlling lever, and means for opening said valve including an abutment arm and means for turning said arm.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD C. ALLEN.

Witnesses:

GRACE A; Foo'rE, J. HAROLD-FLYNN. 

